Entrée Health: 2020
Entrée Health LLC
200 Varick Street, 2nd Floor
New York, NY 10014
Telephone
212-896-8026
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The Entrée Health network leadership team has long been in the business of building brands, leaders, and relationships in the market access space. In the past year, this work paid off, as the network launched two new entities: Valuate Health Consultancy (purely focused on optimizing market access and value strategy across the healthcare industry) and Entrée Health Boston (delivering full-service access and reimbursement strategy and communications). That brings the network’s offering to four different companies, including the flagship Entrée Health New York and the first spin off, Entrée Health Princeton.
Recently elevated network CEO Andrew Gottfried explains, “We work in an incredibly complex arena. But our mission keeps us absolutely focused. Every new offering comes from our asking what else is needed to make sure people get access to the healthcare they need.”
RECENT ACCOMPLISHMENTS
The network grew in multiple other ways as well—adding several exclusive data-related products, winning multiple new assignments through pitches and relationships, and carefully honing its culture.
The leadership team says the past year was another year of impressive growth for the network, buoyed by successes at each individual company.
According to Randi Baerson, executive VP, director of client services for Entrée Health New York, “At Entrée Health New York, we wanted to shake things up. We have debuted a new agency vision that was driven by everyone in the agency, rather than from the top down. It has captured the special energy of our collective strength and our conviction that everyone deserves access to the healthcare they need.”
Baerson says this employees-first philosophy is clearly paying off, with a record number of clients continuing on with the agency from 2019 to 2020, and multiple exciting wins, including the network’s first HIV AOR assignment with ViiV Healthcare.
Network management says the Princeton office continues its impressive winning streak, with a series of organic and pitched wins in 2019 and 2020. And, like all the offices, launches are a bit of a specialty of there, as network executives point out that in a 16-month period, the Princeton location launched seven brands for Sun Pharmaceuticals alone: Cequa, Absorica LD, Bynfezia, Infugem, Kapspargo, Drizalma, and Riomet ER.
In 2019, the network added Jack Timko, VP, director of data analytics, who has increased the number of analysts in his group. This year, the agency added industry veteran Franklin Williams as senior VP, technical director. “Williams is already hard at work guiding and enhancing several important digital transformations at network clients,” network executives say.
STRUCTURE AND SERVICES
The Entrée Health Network is composed of three full-service market access agencies and the new Valuate Health Consultancy. While each Entrée Health agency – New York, Princeton, and Boston – is run by a different leadership and each brand is carefully firewalled, they all report up to the same network leadership: Gottfried and network Managing Partner, Executive Creative Director Nina Manasan Greenberg, Ph.D. Management says the entire network is fully focused on market access and reimbursement, with each full-service agency designed to help clients maximize access for their brands and make sure that, no matter what type of access a brand has, healthcare providers and patients can navigate the mandates of that access.
As Greenberg explains, “We’ve been able to expand so rapidly because we have leaders with unlimited potential at the helm of each of our four companies. Frankly, our job is about nurturing our future leaders and then getting out of their very talented way.”
Network executives describe Valuate Health Consultancy (see profile on page 88) as a consulting practice that combines deep market access and reimbursement expertise with industry-leading analytics. Everything this consultancy offers is designed to ultimately help manufacturers determine the strongest route to demonstrating product value to healthcare stakeholders. “From the start it’s been clear that Valuate fills an unmet need, given the overwhelming response from marketplace,” Gottfried says.
According to Dina Steinfurth, managing director, Valuate, “Our work spans the value-generation gamut. For example, we evaluate new assets for their reimbursement potential, design and translate HEOR studies, develop and validate product value platforms, and respond to health policy changes. We’re able to do this because we offer access to an exquisitely integrated payer data platform – run by our in-house data scientists who understand organized customers – and, together with our consultants, work to formulate strategies to ensure products can break through market access barriers.”
Individual agencies have their own client rosters and all work on both specialty and general medicine products across the organizational customer types. Cora Meese, executive VP, director of client services, Entrée Health Princeton, says, “We started many years ago with a focus on the traditional payers, like health plans and PBMs, commercial, and government. Now we’ve had to become experts in emerging payers. Retail pharmacy, health systems, IDNs, employers, large medical groups, even hemophilia treatment centers … they all affect people’s access to healthcare.”
FUTURE PLANS
Network managers say the agencies are focused on developing talent at every level. The company leaders across the network average over 10 years each within the network.
“We recognize how lucky we are to have people start their careers with us,” Greenberg says. “Every once in a while, that means they need to go spread their wings at some point. But we’re in it for the very long haul. And sometimes the timing is right to come back together again.”
That was the case with former long-time Entrée Healthers Lauren Elliott and Alex Mindlin, who were asked to return and lead the newly formed Entrée Health Boston at the end of 2019. “I have no doubt that these two leaders have what it takes to grow this agency; they’ve already won four new assignments in 2020,” Gottfried says. “As well, they’ve been incredibly careful to hire talented people who all have the potential to grow rapidly as the agency grows.”
Second, the network is in the process of developing multiple data-driven products. While network leaders decline to discuss them before they are fully developed, they have made it clear that at least two products from the Entrée Health New York and Princeton offices can be expected in the next year, and several from Valuate Health Consultancy.
According to Jason Dineen, senior VP, creative director, Entrée Health Princeton, “Getting access for healthcare is always just the beginning for us. It’s equally important for patients, caregivers, and practices to navigate whatever kind of access there is. And that’s where data, and even AI, are coming to the fore for our offerings across the network.”
PHILANTHROPY/CITIZENSHIP
The network supports two pro bono accounts that leaders say are clearly aligned to its mission. Entrée Health New York has long supported Queer Health Access, under the aegis of Megan Hall, executive VP, creative director. “The LGBTQ community has very specific physical, mental, and social healthcare needs,” Hall says. “But culturally competent healthcare access is still a major barrier. That’s why we’re proud to partner with the Tegan and Sara Foundation on this critical project. It’s a critical issue, and it’s exactly aligned with what drives us at Entrée Health.”
Eight animated Times Square billboards on International Women’s Day in 2019 marked the debut of pro bono support of Zana Africa by the Entrée Health Princeton office. Says Paul Smith, senior VP, group creative director of the Princeton office: “Access to healthcare comes in the form of education for girls in Kenya. When we learned about Zana Africa’s amazing work, we had to support them. In particular, we were moved by their research via the Nia Project, funded by the Melinda and Bill Gates, which is showing that access to sanitary pads and reproductive health education helps keep girls in school and improves social and health outcomes.”
All network employees also have an annual Good Works day, in addition to regular vacation and personal days, so that they can give back to their communities.
